A serious concern for parents of a newborn is a potential death caused by sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). SIDS is a sudden and unexplained death of an infant less than one year of age. Infant apnea is defined by the American Academy of Pediatrics as “an unexplained episode of cessation of breathing for 20 seconds or longer, or a shorter respiratory pause associated with bradycardia, cyanosis, pallor, and/or marked hypotonia” and is able to cause SIDS. Although studies have failed to solidly confirm a direct association between SIDS and apnea, SIDS can still be thought of as a sleep disorder. A SIDS victim may be unable to control his breathing spontaneously during sleep or to arouse from sleep in response to a breathing problem. Monitoring an infant's breathing activity has thus become crucial in the early detection of potentially fatal conditions.
One approach to monitor the breathing activity is to attach sensors or to put a romper suit with embedded sensors on an infant. Such mechanical approach works by detecting changes in breathing movements in the chest and abdomen of an infant and alerting parents if the movements are abnormal or are not detected for longer than a preset time. However, the aforementioned wearable sensing devices would make direct contact with the infant that tend to cause skin irritation and discomfort. Consequently, there is a need to develop an approach such that sleeping infants could be constantly monitored and protected against the occurrence of SIDS with minimal discomfort.